Today was the first long bike ride as I try to psyche myself up to do the BWCA – Quetico – Superior Bike Tour. The trip is approximately 650 miles through the wilderness of northern Minnesota, the Quetico, and finally returning down the North Shore of Lake Superior to Duluth. Anyhow, I biked 48 miles in high winds and rain which tool 3 hours, 20 minutes.  I need encouragement! Post a comment! At 54 years old it's time to try something new! (click upon image to view full sized).

As many of you know, I raced in my first Biathlon recently, and even placed first in the masters novice division. The sport impressed me with its demands for conditioning (skiing) and precision (shooting); however I'm not sure I'm ready for competition at the international level. This battle between the skiers from France, Russia, France and Germany for the top three places is truly amazing (video is only 46 seconds long).

Only one week ago Molly and I were cross-country skiing (Biathlon!). Enjoy a few moments and watch all the Winter's snow as it races through the "Deeps" waterfall in Amity Creek's mad rush down to Lake Superior. Apparently this Spring's snow melt is the fastest in over 120 years. I went bicycling yesterday in shorts and a t-shirt. Hard to fathom when it's mid March in northern Minnesota!

Amity Creek Waterfall from Rich Hoeg on Vimeo.

Molly and I had a great time today skiing as novices in the Minnesota Biathlon. In fact, I did not realize Molly had never fired a gun in her life … what a first for my dear wife and on Nordic Skis! We both actually hit 9 of 10 targets in the longer 7 km cross-country ski race, and thus avoided taking all but one penalty lap. The folks from the Minnesota Biathlon Organization are to be commended for running a great event. Of course, blue skies and temperatures of 45F did not hurt either (results)! Last week's Birkie seems so long in the past.

I hope you enjoy my photos and video of both the experienced race, and the novice race in which Molly and I competed:

• Novice Skier Biathlon Race: Ski Cam Man (head cam photos)
• Experienced Skier Biathlon Race (regular camera photos)
  and
• A Musical Mashup of the Day's Races (slideshow)

Finally, a few photos from Olympian Garrott Kuzzy .

Please also visit my MinnSki (Nordic Skiing in Minnesota Web Portal) where you'll find more head cam photos, a custom built search engine which focuses upon Nordic Skiing in the Northland, and Garmin calculated trail difficulty measurements / ratings. For example, view my Garmin data from this race.

If you prefer, the video embedded below may also be watched on YouTube, but I think this version loads quicker and is of equal quality. It was a fun day!

Minnesota Biathlon from Rich Hoeg on Vimeo.

• Photos from the 2012 Birkie (GoPro)

I've posted photographs from my GoPro Head Cam. If you would like to see the 2010 American Birkebeiner 54 kilometer classic race from a participant's view, either view the slideshow shown below or link to my Picasa web album for higher quality viewing and free download options: (see more Northstar Nerd Ski Cam Man Photos)

• American Birkebeiner Photo Album (Picasa)

And I made it up Bitch Hill (see below … click to view full sized) where 1/2 the way up the hill a priest with a microphone shouted: "Sinners, you are forgiven for your blasphemes shouted out loud as you climb Bitch Hill!". You'll find more Bitch Hill photos via my Picasa Web Album link. You should also link to Scott Brown's GoPro Camera Videos (unlike my still shots).

Curious how much elevation you gain climbing Bitch Hill and all the other Birkie Hills? Link to my post which gives Garmin data for many of the major ski races in this region.